The present invention relates to cooking devices, and more particularly, devices designed for boiling pasta in a commercial environment.
Traditionally, the commercial preparation of pasta involved the boiling of pasta in large pots on a gas stove, or alternately, the boiling of pasta in large pans on a gas stove, the pans including apparatus for tilting the pan to pour out its contents. However, with the advent of high-volume commercial food establishments which serve pasta, there is need for devices which are designed exclusively for boiling pasta on a continuous and high-volume basis.
An initial attempt at developing such a device consisted of the conversion of a deep fat fryer. With that device, the tank for holding cooking oil was converted into a water holding tank, and pasta was placed in baskets positioned within the tank and cooked while the water in the tank was boiled.
Such converted devices possess inherent disadvantages. For example, as a result of the continuous cooking of pasta, the water in the tank quickly became clogged with starch foam, making it difficult to observe the cooking of the pasta, and increasing the amount of time required for cleaning. Further, the tank drains tended to become clogged easily with starch foam and pasta particles, which become extremely sticky when deposited on metal surfaces, such as the stainless steel of the drain openings.
Accordingly, there is a need for a pasta cooker which is capable of preparing pasta on a high-volume basis in which the problems of starch foam and drain clogging are minimized.